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In a test of the Religious Liberty and Charitable Donation Protection Act of 1998 (RLCDPA), a federal court in California ruled that contributions to a church made in the year preceding bankruptcy filing cannot be recovered by the bankruptcy trustee. The church was allowed to keep the donations. The RLCDPA prohibits bankruptcy courts from recovering contributions to religious organizations when the amount does not exceed 15% of the debtor’s gross income; or if more than 15%, the contributions were consistent with prior practice. The bankruptcy trustee tried to argue that the 15% applied to income after expenses (disposable income). The court disagreed and affirmed the 15% applied to gross income. In re Lewis 401 B.R. 431 (C.D. Cal. 2009)

New user fees apply to Exempt Organizations exemption applications, ruling requests and other matters for 2010. The fee for 501(c)(3) tax exempt application (Form 1023) will be reduced to $200 when the application is submitted electronically. If a paper application is filed, the fee will be $850. Consult section 6 of Rev. Proc. 2010-8 (http://www.irs.gov/irb/2010-01_IRB/ar13.html) to ensure that you include the appropriate fee with your application for exemption or other ruling or determination request.

The 2010 standard mileage rates for business purposes, and medical and moving purposes are reduced from 2009 levels, as anticipated.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2010, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: 50 cents per mile for business miles driven, 16.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, and 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

In 2009, the standard mileage rates were: 55 cents per mile for business purposes, 24 cents per mile for medical or moving purposes, and 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

The IRS has announced that it will increase the application fee for tax exempt status from $750 to $850 starting in January 2010. This would apply to a 501(c)(3) organization that expects annual revenue of $10,000 or more. The application form used by charitable organizations is Form 1023.
The IRS also plans to launch “Cyber Assistant”, an Internet-based Form 1023 application, during 2010. Once the new web-based application is available, the fee will only be $200 for those who use it. Those who choose to file the existing paper form will be charged the $850 fee. The new web-based is not available yet - the IRS will announce its availability at a later date. For more information, visit the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=212562,00.html.

According to a new survey published by Christianity Today International, average compensation for ministers decreased about 2.4% in 2009, reflecting the budgeting decisions made by churches in the wake of the nation’s economic recession. One of the problems of cutting non-taxable fringe benefits is that the employee is then forced to replace those benefits with after-tax dollars from their already reduced paycheck. This has a compounded negative impact on the employee’s take home pay. If at all possible, churches (or any employer for that matter) who are considering a reduction of payroll costs should strive to maintain non-taxable fringe benefits and first reduce taxable compensation. (Christianity Today International publishes an annual Compensation Handbook for churches).

The IRS and Department of Treasury have issued proposed regulations under IRC Section 7611 to clarify the procedures for authorizing church tax inquiries and examinations. The proposed regulations name the Director, Exempt Organizations as the “appropriate high-level Treasury official” who has the authority to initiate a church inquiry. These proposed regulations replace references to positions that were abolished under the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act with references that are consistent with the statute and IRS's current organizational structure. To see the proposed regulations, see http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/7611pregs080509.pdf. Written or electronic comments and requests for a public hearing must be received by November 3, 2009.

Updated in April 2009, the IRS guide for audits of ministers reveals the techniques used by the IRS when examining tax returns of ministers. To see the audit guide, go to http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=210018,00.html. The guide covers such topics as who is a minister, types of compensation, business expenses, and self-employment taxes.

As you may already know, new regulations require that all organizations and churches establish a written plan document for 403(b) plans (tax-sheltered annuity plans) by no later than 12/31/09. In addition, the Department of Labor has revised the Form 5500 annual filing for benefit plans to require expanded reporting for 403(b) plans. Plans filing the Form 5500, even small plans, must report aggregate financial information regarding the assets of the plan. This can be difficult, or even impossible, for some plans because some accounts are controlled by the employee, and the organization may not have any knowledge that the account exists, especially if they are no longer making contributions to that specific account.

For a comparison of the current health care reform proposals from the three Congressional committees, go to www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm. The current proposals generally focus on forced coverage for employees, with penalties for employers who do not comply. For example, House Democrats propose a penalty of 8% of payroll for employers who fail to fund 65% of employee insurance premiums. Small employers would be exempt – depending on the proposal, a ‘small employer’ could mean fewer than 25 employees, or total payroll less than $250,000. The plans would also require all individuals to have insurance, or face penalties.